W. Soccer earns a split on fall break road trip

Quakers junior midfielder Kelli Toland scored a goal and had three assists in two games. The Penn women's soccer team spent a lot of time on the road during fall break, and for Philadelphia native Kelli Toland, the miles on the bus proved to be worth the time away from home. The junior midfielder went on a scoring spree over the weekend, leading the Quakers in a 1-1 fall break campaign against two challenging teams. Toland was on fire Saturday, tallying three assists in Penn's (8-3-1 overall, 3-1 Ivy League) 4-2 win over Columbia (7-4-1, 0-3-1) in New York City. She then continued the heat two days later, netting the Quakers' lone goal in their 3-1 loss at George Mason (7-8) Monday in Fairfax, Va. With the weekend scoring run, Toland has tied her career single-season records of five goals and seven assists. With 17 total points, she has also boosted herself into a tie for first place in this season's Ivy League overall scoring list with Columbia's Stephanie Smith. "We've been getting a lot of good scoring from our upperclassmen this season and Kelli has been leading the way," Penn coach Andy Nelson said. "As this year's gone on, she's just gotten better and better." Quaker fans hope that this quality play by both Toland and her teammates keeps up, as Penn begins a five-day, three-game home series by hosting Loyola at 3:30 p.m. today on Rhodes Field. The Quakers will continue with home games against Brown on Saturday and Navy on Sunday. According to Nelson, Loyola will be a "good test" for Penn after its 1-1 weekend, which saw the Jekyll and Hyde aspects of the Quakers' play emerge. Saturday's 4-2 win over Columbia was much more decisive for Penn than the score indicates. The Quakers' scored their first goal in the eighth minute off a 20-yard free kick by Toland to the head of Ashley Kjar. It was Penn's first goal scored on a set play this season. After riding the 1-0 lead through the first half, Penn widened the gap against the Lions in the 50th minute off an Aidan Viggiano goal from Toland's second assist. "They played a pretty flat defense so if you got through you had plenty of space to run," Toland said. "Jill [Callaghan] broke through and knocked it to me and I laid it back to Aidan. Aidan's shot was a rocket." The Quakers soon had a 3-0 lead when Toland sent a pass into the Lions' penalty box for Heather Taylor, who knocked the ball past Columbia goalkeeper Ali Ahern in the 65th minute. With 10 minutes left and the match seemingly in hand, Nelson began subbing his bench players into the game. Five minutes later, though, the tone of the game shifted when Columbia scored two goals in one minute to close the score to 3-2. The Lion's first goal came in the beginning of the 85th minute off a penalty kick, which was rewarded after Penn goalie Katherine Hunt knocked over a Columbia forward while chasing down a loose ball. Columbia's second goal came at the end of the 85th minute on a defensive lapse by the Quakers. "It was just a big boot up the field [by a Columbia player] and it dropped to one of their players and she put it in," Nelson said. Penn, though, regained its composure after Columbia scored its second goal and the threat of a tie game began to loom over the field. Penn forward Andrea Callaghan sealed Columbia's fate with just over two minutes to play, putting a mishandled ball by Ahern into the back of the net for the 4-2 Penn victory. "We learned a little lesson that we can't stop playing against any team," Nelson said of the close-call finish. "Even though we had soundly beaten Columbia, we still allowed them to battle back and make a threat." It was Penn, however, that had to try battling back Monday after George Mason went up 2-0 in the 49th minute. Toland's goal in the 72nd minute to bring the Quakers within one gave them a new intensity, but it only lasted until the 83rd minute when the Patriots scored their third and final goal. "Our team kind of deflated after that," Toland said. Even though a Penn four-game winning streak was halted by George Mason, Nelson doesn't see Monday's loss as having the potential to negatively affect Penn in today's Loyola match. In fact, he thinks losing to the Patriots might actually help Penn both today and in the three weeks remaining in the season. "In a funny way, it's going to be a really good thing for the team," Nelson said. "It will focus them. They don't like to lose."